Look Back At Jon Stewart’s Very First Joke On ‘The Daily Show’

As we’re sure you’re aware, Jon Stewart is leaving The Daily Show. Tonight marks the host’s final bow on the late night news satire. While everyone will be wishing Stewart well — and anxiously speculating about whether Trevor Noah can fill his shoes — we want to take this moment to look back at Stewart’s very first moments leading the show.

Stewart was already a popular stand up comedian and cable television host when he took over The Daily Show on January 11, 1999. However, as you ‘ll see from the clip below, it was difficult back then to imagine that The Daily Show could ever have such a profound influence on news, politics, and comedy.

Yeah, Jon Stewart looks a lot younger in the clip, but then America was, too. When Stewart inherited The Daily Show from its first host, Craig Kilborn, the biggest political story of the day was President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial. The Daily Show had fun making jokes about Clinton’s infamous womanizing or mocking how old Strom Thurmond was. It’s funny for the time, but it also feels like the show is more concerned with getting in a few good playground pot shots instead of presenting transgressive political satire.

In a sweet moment of serendipity, the first guest correspondent during Stewart’s run was none other than Stephen Colbert. The soon-to-be Late Show host has a short bit about the partisan fight over Congressional merchandising and gets in a timely joke about Mase.